Category Archives: Audio

سوره النحل القران
وَإِنَّ لَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَنۡعَٰمِ لَعِبۡرَةٗۖ نُّسۡقِيكُم مِّمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِۦ مِنۢ بَيۡنِ فَرۡثٖ وَدَمٖ لَّبَنًا خَالِصٗا سَآئِغٗا لِّلشَّٰرِبِينَ. ٦٦. .وَمِن ثَمَرَٰتِ ٱلنَّخِيلِ وَٱلۡأَعۡنَٰبِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنۡهُ سَكَرٗا وَرِزۡقًا حَسَنًاۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَةٗ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَعۡقِلُونَ. ٦٧..وَأَوۡحَىٰ رَبُّكَ إِلَى ٱلنَّحۡلِ أَنِ ٱتَّخِذِي مِنَ ٱلۡجِبَالِ بُيُوتٗا وَمِنَ ٱلشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعۡرِشُونَ. ٦٨..ثُمَّ كُلِي مِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ فَٱسۡلُكِي سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلٗاۚ يَخۡرُجُ مِنۢ بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٞ مُّخۡتَلِفٌ أَلۡوَٰنُهُۥ فِيهِ شِفَآءٞ لِّلنَّاسِۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَةٗ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ.٦٩.
Translation. Surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle: We provide you to drink out of that which is in their bellies between the faeces and the blood – pure milk – which is a palatable drink for those who take it. 66. And out of the fruits of date-palms and grapes you derive intoxicants as well as wholesome sustenance. Surely there is a sign for those who use reason. 67. Your Lord inspired the bee, saying: “Set up hives in the mountains and in the trees and in the trellises that people put up. 68. then suck the juice of every kind of fruit and keep treading the ways of your Lord which have been made easy.” There comes forth from their bellies a drink varied in colours, wherein there is healing for men. Verily there is a sign in this for those who reflect. 69. Surah Al-Nahl. The Bee.
Commentary
These verses provide three beautiful comparisons in the context of food and drink which Allah has provided abundantly to his servants on earth. In verses 66 and 67 which predate the verse concerning prohibition of drink خمر او سكر in the Holy Quran in another Surah, the purity of milk is contrasted with the impurity of blood and waste of the cattle. This comparison advances to the next level in verse 67 where pure food is contrasted with intoxicants made from the juice of dates and grapes, which Allah allows when fresh but forbids when fermented and made into drink سكر. The contrast is further advanced in verses 68 & 69. Here unlike the belly of the cattle which produces both milk and faeces, the belly of the bee produces honey in different colours which is pure and natural and is a cure for many human ailments.
These verses carry two fundamental lessons. When man produces food, it can be good food such as fresh juice from fruits, or food which is not good or is imperfect such as intoxicating drink from fermented dates and grapes. The forbidden foods are similar to blood and faeces which are mentioned in the preceding verse. But when Allah provides food it is pure and clean such as milk or honey. The second lesson is that Allah alone has the power to produce fruits in a variety of species, colours, tastes and qualities from trees irrigated with the same water. He alone provides the best food from the bellies of his creations that eat, digest and excrete to survive and multiply. Despite man’s ability to copy God, he cannot even fathom Allah’s creativity and mastery over His creation.
و ما علينا الا البلاغ المبين

In the holy Quran, Allah Subhanuhu wa Taala has stated that He created man out of the extract of clay (23:12) but he created him with so many defects that without divine guidance and help from his Creator man cannot return to the Garden of Eden from where he was expelled because of his disobedience to Allah and taking the ill advice of his arch enemy Satan.

Allah then goes on to say that those men who submit themselves to the Will of Allah and do good, stay with the truth and exercise patience are able to overcome their birth defects (weaknesses) and rise above their mundane life, destined to be the inheritors of heaven where they will live forever without fear or sadness.

May Allah give us the understanding to overcome our faults and weaknesses by following Allah, His prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and the holy Quran, which is Guidance to all mankind.

Surah Nisa Verse 40 “Verily Allah does not do injustice even of the weight of an atom, and if there he a good deed He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.”

For Muslim charities this is the season of fundraising in the UK. Muslims usually pay zakat in the holy month of Ramadan and also exceed in acts of charity such as feeding the hungry, sponsoring orphans, supporting the destitute and collecting funds for refugees, widows and the elderly, as well as for natural disasters and emergencies worldwide.

To attract donors from the public these charities publish their annual reports, print bold posters, launch nationwide fundraising campaigns and mail flyers and donation material to thousands of British households in Ramadan. Mostly their mailing lists revolve around Muslim names and addresses. Their mailing lists overlap and often compete with the many of the same donors with the result that each Muslim household ends up receiving promotional literature from over a dozen Muslim charities based in the UK. Some of these charities do not have sophisticated mailing software to eliminate duplicate addresses. Consequently they end up sending up to 4 letters to each household with the same address but addressed to different individuals who reside at the address.

There is a lot of charity money that goes into fundraising effort. Each charity spends at an average around GBP 70,000 into a large mail shot comprising their report and coloured brochure for various charity appeals. This is on top of the expenditure earmarked by charities for Google ads, Iftar dinners, sponsorship of motivational speakers and nasheed artists and TV appeals. This expenditure cannot be unfortunately avoided due to the nature of the charity model that has developed in the UK for all public fundraising charities. However, if charities can eliminate duplicate mailing and agree to send no more than one mailing shot per Ramadan to their donors they may be able to save an odd GBP 100,000 per annum each on this exercise. In fact they can save more if they all agree to go online to reach out to their donors and do away with mailing completely. I doubt very much if they will agree to it but it hurts me to see Muslim household dishing out dozens of letters in their waste bins in Ramadan after being bombarded by letters form charities soliciting donations. The Muslim Charities Forum should look into this and come up with creative ways of cutting costs where the waste of paper, time and effort is so glaringly obvious.

It must be said, however, that the Muslim charity sector is very vibrant in the UK compared to its limited size and donor base. It is most active in providing services to the British charity sector. Muslim charities do an amazing job of raising funds for good deeds in the most difficult economic circumstances from a community which is not amongst the most affluent in Britain but which always tops the donors lists in terms of the proportion of their income going out for charitable work.

In his famous commentary of the Holy Quran known as Tafseer Ibn Kathir, Imam Hafiz Imaduddin has stated that Islam consists of 30 qualities. Ten are narrated in Surah Asra (Chapter 17) in the Holy Quran; five are in Surah Mominoon (Chapter 23), ten are in Surah Al -Ahzab (Chapter 33) and five in Surah Al-Ma’arij (Chapter 70). When I went over these verses I counted the total to be 39, with 15 in Surah Asra, 6 in Surah Mominoon, 10 in Surah Al-Ahzab and 8 in Surah Al-Ma’arij.

Of these, the quality of worship or prayer is mentioned five times. Two qualities are reiterated thrice. These are about guarding chastity and paying alms. One quality is reiterated twice. This is about keeping trust and covenants. After subtracting 8 reiterations, I did reach the total of 30 qualities which Imam Hafiz Imaduddin has described in Tafseer Ibn Kathir. However, this exercise did help me in showing the correct order of qualities. The quality of prayer is reiterated 5 times in these Surah. Therefore this is the most important quality of a Muslim. The next important quality is paying alms and guarding chastity because these are repeated thrice in the Surah. Then the next quality is keeping trust and covenants, which are reiterated twice, followed by 26 other qualities as follows:

I. Fifteen Qualities of a Muslim in Surah Isra (Chapter 17)

1. She/he does not worship anyone other than Allah. Verse 22
2. Is kind to parents. Verse 23
3. Recognises and fulfils the rights of relatives, the poor and those in transit during travel, and is not mean to them. Verse 26
4. Neither is paltry nor spendthrift. Verse 29
5. Does not kill his/her babies for fear of penury. Verse 31
6. Does not engage in adultery or fornication. Verse 32
7. Does not murder any human being whose blood is forbidden by Allah. Verse 33
8. Does not usurp the estate or rights of orphans. Verse 34
9. Observes correct weight and measure in business transactions. Verse 35
10. Does not insist on something he/she does not know. Verse 36
11. Is not arrogant on God’s earth. Verse 37
12. Engages with others nicely and with good manners. Verse 53
13. Stands for prayers at daybreak till darkness of night and recites Quran at dawn. Verse 78
14. Performs additional prayers at night. Verse 79
15. Thanks and Glorifies Allah. Verse 111

1. They do not put their own likes or dislikes before that of Allah and his prophet Muhammad. (verse 1)
2. They verify any information brought to them by an ungodly/immoral person before acting upon it. (verse 6)
3. They make peace between two factions of Muslims when they are at war with each other. (verse 9)
4. They do not mock nor call others by derogatory names, for they may be better than them. (verse 11)
5. They don’t pry into the personal lives of other people, shun suspicion and do not backbite about others (verse 12)

V. Eight Qualities of Muslims in Surah Al-Ma’arij (Chapter 70)

1. They are constant in their prayers. Verse 23.
2. Take due care of their prayers. Verse 34
3. Know there is a share of beggars and dispossessed in their wealth. Verse 24-25
4. Believe in the Day of Recompense. Verse 26
5. Are fearful of the chastisement of their Lord. Verse 27
6. Guard their modesty and private parts. Verse 29
7. Keep their trusts and covenants. Verse 32
8. Are upright in their testimonies. Verse 33

The above provides a complete template of the qualities of a Muslim and enables a believer to see where he/she stands in relation to following the Commandments of Allah Subhanuhu wa Taala. Whoever follows these Commandments with sincerity and purity of thought and intention, Allah promises him/her a great reward in the noblest part of the Garden of Eden (Jannat Al Firdous) in the afterlife. Moreover, such person will neither be anxious nor worried nor feel miserable in this mortal life on earth as long as he lives in this world. (Chapter 23, Verse 11).

Unlike other places of worship in other Abrahamic religions, Muslims love to socialise in Mosques except for the brief period when the congregational prayer led by the Imam is held. It is good to socialise and love thy neighbour even in the Mosque and for this Muslims deserve 10 out of 10 with additional brownie points for the warm hand shake. However, there are times when silence must be observed in Mosques both out of respect and to give fellow worshippers the opportunity to offer additional prayers, read the Holy Quran and engage in Zikr in total peace and quiet. This is more true of Ramadan than any other month because in this month Muslims want to spend extra time in Mosques praying and seeking the blessings of Allah Subhanuhu wa Taala. How can this be achieved remains a big challenge for many Imams and Managers of Mosques.

One occasion when conversation gets real loud and undesirable is after Janaza prayers when these are combined with a Fard prayer and performed inside the main prayer hall. Most mosques in the UK are constrained by area and inclement weather to observe Janaza prayers inside the main hall and not in an open courtyard where people can easily gather and disassemble after the Janaza prayers. A good practice observed by some mosques to keep the level of conversation down is to pray the Janaza prayer immediately after Fard Jamaat prayer without any break so that after the Janaza prayer the remaining sunnah and nafil prayers are offered by worshippers in peace and quiet. A volunteer of the mosque takes the coffin box on the side of the prayer hall from where, after the remaining prayers, it is rolled away outside for people to see the uncovered face of the deceased if he is a male.

The role of the Imam is also very important in making sure that silence is observed in Mosques at all times and especially at Janaza prayers. Some Imams perform only the Janaza prayer and otherwise keep quiet throughout the proceedings. Other more intelligent Imams give a brief speech for a couple of minutes reminding the worshippers that as they as praying for the dead today, one day other Muslims will also be praying for them when their call comes from the Almighty Allah. These Imams also say a word or two about the deceased and enquire if anyone has a financial claim on the person whose Janaza prayer is being read, advising them to contact his heirs or forgive the debt. Where Janaza prayers are held only occasionally, the Imam also explains the procedure for performing Janaza prayer, even though every Muslim should be familiar with it as part of his religious education from childhood. Such announcements help to maintain the required sobriety and seriousness of the occasion and people are discouraged from letting loose their tongues to make the mosque a market place. AstagfiruAllah.

It is also said that our community is illiterate, indifferent and uncivilised. Numerous reminders to them to observe silence inside the Mosque or even around the Mosque in neighbourhoods where Fajr and Isha prayers take place outside normal working hours in Muslim minority localities fall on deaf ears and the congregation keeps behaving like the tail of the dog which got curled when it was taken out from a straight tube after 12 years. The answer lies in treating each congregation as a new congregation and the advice to worshippers to remain quiet should be repeated by Imams as many times as Iqama is called for each Fard prayer. Repeating it again and again will make people listen. If not listen, at least remember. If not remember, at least act. After all, this is also the golden principle of advertising. You advertise a beverage so many times again and again that when someone feels thirsty, he does not ask for water but goes straight for the beverage that has been drilled into his ears umpteenth times.

May Allah give us the wisdom to observe silence in Mosques, apply good practice and borrow good traditions from other Mosques in the spirit of bringing quality and taqwa in our Ibaada and submission to Allah Subhanuhu wa Taala. Ameen.
Syed Sharfuddin
London: 9 June 2016

Imam Al-Ghazali on Time Management
“Your time should not be without any structure, such that you occupy yourself arbitrarily with whatever comes along. Rather, you must take account of yourself and order your worship during the day and the night, assigning to each period of time an activity that must not be neglected nor replaced by another activity. By this ordering of time, the blessing in time will show itself. A person who leaves himself without a plan as animals do, not knowing what he is to do at any given moment, will spend most of his time fruitlessly. Your time is your life, and your life is your capital: by it you make your trade, and by it you will reach the eternal bounties in the proximity of Allah. Every single breath of yours is a priceless jewel, because it is irreplaceable; once it is gone, there is no return for it. So do not be like fools who rejoice each day as their wealth increases while their lives decrease. What good is there in wealth that increases while one’s lifespan decreases? Do not rejoice except in an increase of knowledge or an increase of good works. Truly they are your two friends who will accompany you in your grave, when your spouse, your wealth, your children, and your friends will remain behind.”
— Imam al-Ghazali

In his famous book The Moqaddama, Ibn Khaldoon writes that the Arabs eat camel and it makes them men of honour and vengeance. He goes on to say the Turks eat horse which gives them strength and agility; the French eat swine, which makes them bold and debauched. The tribesmen of Africa eat monkey from whom they get the muscle to dance and shake. Another great philosopher of classical times, Ibn Al Qaiyyem says different types of animals possess different characteristics, which get transferred to man when he eats them. Their meat strengthens those parts of our body, which are suited to perform some or all of the traits of these animals. In the light of these two opinions, we note that in our times we are eating a lot of chicken. May the Good Lord protect us from the habits of chicken getting into us!

I have made an attempt to read out children’s bedtime stories on this page for young children who ask their parents every evening before going to bed to tell them a nice story. The stories are read out from the book titled ‘365 Stories for Children’. The book is in 4 volumes and is printed by ‘Baitul Ilm Trust Karachi’. The stories are compiled in Urdu by the editor of ‘Bachon ka Islam’. The 4 volumes are available from leading Islamic bookstores in all the main cities of Pakistan. These books are reasonably priced and can also be obtained directly from www.mbi.com.pk and by writing to the editor at mbikhi.pk@gmail.com. There is no charge for the audio listening of the stories for children on this page. However, parents may wish to make a hadiya/ contribution to ‘Maktaba Baitul Ilam’ directly by going on their website so that the publishers can use thier donation to produce more such books for children and contribute to their moral and ethical education through entertainment. Nothing can be more educational than a nice bed time story for a child read to him/her by their parent or narrated through an audio device which is becoming so common in our everyday life. Jazaka Allah.